engineer in Russia, says in his work on • Russian Metallurgical Works: "Petroleum exists in great quantities on the borders of the Caspian Sea near Baku. Its quality is considered equal or even superior to the American oil." In 1872, we learn of two oil refineries being established, and have the first notice of the employment in this region of the oil as "liquid fuel" in the production of steam. In this respect the American engineer was as many years ahead of the Russian at that time, as the Russians are ahead of us at the present time in the same field.'

The following interesting account of the state of affairs at Baku at the time mentioned is given by Major Marsh:"The afternoon was devoted to the great natural wonders of Baku, petroleum, and the everlasting fires. At Surakhani the whole country is saturated with petroleum; on making a hole in the ground the gas escapes, on lighting which it burns for a very long while, one of the few spots on earth where this extraordinary phenomenon can be seen. When there is no wind the flame is dull and small, but in a gale it roars and leaps up eight or ten feet. There are two naphtha refining establishments at Surakhani, the furnaces of which are entirely heated by the natural gas, which is collected, as it rises out of the ground,

1 In this connection we have no intention to underestimate American ingenuity. The explanation of this change of affairs will be found in the relative cost of the different kinds of fuel employed. In this part of Russia coal is scarce and dear, while petroleum can be had in unlimited quantity at an exceedingly low price, while in the petroleum regions of Pennsylvania coal is abundant and cheap, petroleum commands a relatively higher price.

in iron tanks and led on by pipes. At night the whole place is lighted in the same manner, by ordinary gas burners attached to the walls. On returning home in the evening we saw the silent waste, lit up by various fires, each surrounded by a group of wild Tartars cooking their food by its heat. The naphtha springs or wells are about five miles off, and the oil is brought in casks, in the crude state, as it is pumped out of the wells, a thick black fluid. The engine that works the government patent slip' uses this naphtha instead of coal for fuel. The oil is brought out of a tank by pipes, and is blown into the grate by the force of steam, the heat and flame being regulated with the same ease as a gas lamp, and steam can be got up in the large furnaces in a quarter of an hour. It is cheap, and has the advantage of being clean and easy to manage.'

This last clause, which we have purposely italicized in order to draw the attention of the reader to its importance, expresses precisely the present sentiment prevailing in that section, with reference to the employment of petroleum as a fuel, where its use has increased more than a thousandfold.

In the year 1873, General Valentine Baker passed through Baku, and alludes to the "apparently inexhaustible supply of naphtha" found in that vicinity, and also refers to the gas bubbling up to the surface of the Caspian Sea in immense quantities. His comments on the influence of its introduction as a liquid fuel are interesting in this connection. "It promises to have a great effect in facilitating steam communication on the Caspian. The discovery of the immense supplies of naphtha at Baku, and

its simple application to steam purposes, has obviated the disadvantages which previously existed through the high price of coal. The pure naphtha as drawn from the wells is not used; it is the refuse after distillation, which is found so valuable for steam purposes. This is not highly inflammable and its use seems perfectly safe and thoroughly under control. Vessels originally fitted for burning coal can burn this naphtha with very little alteration. The naphtha is forced into the furnace in the form of spray mixed with a jet of steam. One stoker is sufficient for a large steamer. All the engineers of the vessels using it speak in the highest terms of this fuel."

Until the year 1873 petroleum mining was a close monopoly, paying, we presume, a handsome royalty to the Russian government. At this time, it appears, its eyes were opened to recognize the still greater benefits that were likely to result from abolishing the restrictions. hitherto placed upon its production. In the year 1875 we have for the first time some reliable statistics respecting the actual production of the wells and the prices of the oil. Mr. Arthur Arnold, M.P., in this year furnishes the following interesting item of information: "The engines of the Constantine, the ship on which the Shah traversed the Caspian, were driven with petroleum. Coal, the captain told us, costs eighteen and a half roubles per hour, while petroleum costs only one and a half roubles, a reduction from fifty shillings to four shillings. In a few years Baku

1 "Clouds in the East," London, 1875.

will be united by railway with Tiflis and the Black Sea, and then probably all the steamships on the Euxine will be supplied with the same inexpensive fuel. For two or three miles along the shore of the bay the many buildings in which the oil is refined by itself as fuel pour forth dense smoke, and eight miles from the town are the springs. The average depth at which the oil is touched seems to be about one hundred and fifty feet; the wells are for the most part nine inches to a foot in diameter. From the first well we visited a small steam engine with most primitive gear was lifting about 400,000 pounds of petroleum per day. The oil is of a greenish color, and as it is drawn up is emptied into a square pit dug in the surface from which men take it in buckets and pour it into skins or barrels, the charge at the wells being at the rate of 1 d. per 50 lb. weight of oil."

In the year 1881 we have to note the wonderful progress made both in the production of the oil and in the trade resulting therefrom. Mr. Edward Stack, of the Indian Civil Service, writes from Baku in August, 1881: "The output of the naphtha springs at Baku was about 160,000 tons last year, and is increasing yearly. Difficulties of transport hinder this trade to a certain extent, but these will be largely surmounted if the American plan be adopted. At present the naphtha is transported chiefly by water. A hundred and fifty vessels lie in the harbor, mostly schooners of 90 to 200 tons, but some three-masted steamers belong to the port, the largest being of 1000 tons burden. Nobody can spend half an hour in Baku

without seeing that it is a very rich and flourishing place."

We shall have occasion further on to furnish more particular information respecting the enormous yield of the wells around Baku, and therefore in this connection only incidentally allude to the statement of the geographer, who notices the "700 oil wells" which have already been drilled, none, of which show any signs of exhaustion; but says that "immense loss is caused by the ignorance of those engaged in the trade. Thus, a well at Balakhani, yielding 4800 tons of naphtha daily, ran waste for four weeks before a reservoir could be prepared to receive the oil." These figures are so startling that we have more than once looked before we have dared to place them a second time on record-4800 tons! This means, when reduced to the American mode of computation, allowing seven pounds of petroleum in round numbers to the gallon, and forty-two gallons to the barrel, 36,571 barrels per diem! This so far exceeds anything we have ever known in America, that we are sure this statement will be received with a smile of incredulity. The largest record we have of any well in this country' is that of a well in Thorn Creek, Butler County, Pa., drilled 1884, which is said to have flowed for a few hours at the rate of nine or ten thousand barrels per day. Every account of the oil district of Baku which we have examined bears

1 To which allusion is made in a supplementary article on 'Petroleum' in the Encyclopædia Britannica' (ninth edition, American reprint, 1885).